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Best universities for physics, chemistry and maths degrees 2024

Find the best universities for physics, chemistry and maths using Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings 2024 data

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October 26 2023
chemist, chemistry, science, research

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Top 10 universities for physics, chemistry and maths degrees 2024

Scroll down for the full list of the best universities in the world for physics, chemistry and maths degrees.

 Physical sciences rank 2024   Physical sciences rank 2023  University Country/region
 1   4  California Institute of Technology United States
 2   6  Harvard University United States
 3   5  Stanford University United States
 4   =2  Massachusetts Institute of Technology United States
 5   7  University of Cambridge United Kingdom
 =6   =2  University of California, Berkeley United States
 =6   1  Princeton University United States
 8   8  University of Oxford United Kingdom
 9   9  ETH Zurich Switzerland
 10   12  Yale University United States

The study of physical science covers a number of science degrees, including mathematics, chemistry and earth science, in addition to the obvious – physics and astronomy.

The best universities for studying physics, maths, chemistry and related subjects feature in a Times Higher Education ranking of 1,370 universities.

US universities are the most represented in the ranking, taking 163 places, and American institutions dominate the top 10.

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Only three institutions in the top 10 are not in the US: the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge in the UK and ETH Zurich in Switzerland.

Switzerland, home to the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (Cern), the largest particle physics laboratory in the world, is well represented in the ranking, with nine institutions overall. Other countries that make a strong showing include China (80 universities), the UK (59), Japan (57), Germany (45), Canada (30) and Australia (28).

The ranking uses the same methodology as the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2024, but with adjusted weightings. The full methodology can be found here.

Scroll down for a full list of degrees covered by the ranking and what you can do with them.

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Top 5 universities for physics, chemistry and maths

5. University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge has a long and distinguished history of training and research in physical sciences. Famous names including Isaac Newton, James Clerk Maxwell, Ernest Rutherford and, more recently, Stephen Hawking, have all been associated with the university.

The natural sciences course covers most biological and physical science subjects, allowing specialisation from the second year in physics, chemistry, biology, earth sciences and other specific disciplines.

Maths is a separate degree course, often considered one of the most demanding programmes. Maths students are nicknamed “mathmos” and undertake the course in three parts, progressing from set theory to quantum mechanics.

For most physical sciences graduate students, the famous Cavendish Laboratory is a centre for physics research and takes in about 75 students each year. Postgraduate programmes include physics doctorates and master’s degrees in scientific computing, nanoscience and computational methods.

4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology physics department is fairly large, with about 75 faculty members, almost 300 undergraduate students and 300 postgraduate students.

Since 1998, four alumni of MIT physics programmes have won Nobel prizes for their work.

Freshman physics courses are taught using an educational initiative known as “technology-enabled active learning”.

All undergraduates take maths classes as part of their degrees, and many choose to major or minor in the subject.

Doctoral studies at MIT lead to doctor of philosophy or doctor of science degrees, although these are equivalent in terms of degree status.

Mathematics graduates are admitted to applied or pure maths degrees, and applied maths students are encouraged to take classes in other departments, such as engineering.

3. Stanford University

About half of all undergraduates at Stanford University take at least one physics course as part of their studies. These courses serve as essential training for science and engineering majors.

The department offers introductory courses aimed at non-technical majors, in addition to highly specialised classes.

Studying chemistry at Stanford is also popular, with a specific chemical physics track for those students with strong physics and maths backgrounds.

Students can major or minor in maths, and they have the opportunity to participate in an annual maths contest with cash prizes for excellent scores and for outstanding performances by women.

There are many streams for graduates studying physical sciences, from applied physics to biophysical chemistry. PhD programmes take about six years to complete.

2. Harvard University

Undergraduates at Harvard University can take advantage of a flexible course structure. Compared with other science majors, the physics course has few compulsory classes. Many students, therefore, choose to combine a physics major with maths, astronomy, history of science or chemistry.

Even at undergraduate level, students can carry out research projects independently and work as teaching assistants in some classes.

There is an active social and support community that organises buddies for new students, recreational events and extracurricular lectures in which students have the chance to interact informally with faculty.

For graduate students, the primary areas of research at Harvard are high-energy particle physics, atomic and molecular physics, physics of solids and fluids, astrophysics, nuclear physics, statistical mechanics, quantum optics, mathematical physics, quantum field theory, string theory and relativity.

1. California Institute of Technology

The California Institute of Technology places strong emphasis on science teaching and research.

The faculty members at the university share 74 Nobel prizes and 71 United States National Medals of Science or Technology between them, and include four chief scientists of the US air force.

Numerous staff members are also associated with Nasa. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which was founded in the 1930s and is owned by Nasa, is operated as a division of Caltech. To date, it has spent billions on research and development.

Physics is one of the most popular undergraduate and postgraduate degrees on offer at the university.

What can you do with a chemistry degree?
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Best universities for physics, chemistry and maths degrees 2024

Click each institution to view its World University Rankings 2024 profile

Physical sciences rank 2024  Physical sciences rank 2023  University Country/region
 1   4  California Institute of Technology United States
 2   6  Harvard University United States
 3   5  Stanford University United States
 4   =2  Massachusetts Institute of Technology United States
 5   7  University of Cambridge United Kingdom
 =6   =2  University of California, Berkeley United States
 =6   1  Princeton University United States
 8   8  University of Oxford United Kingdom
 9   9  ETH Zurich Switzerland
 10   12  Yale University United States
 11   13  Imperial College London United Kingdom
 =12   10  Columbia University United States
 =12   14  National University of Singapore Singapore
 14   18  Tsinghua University China
 15   16  Peking University China
 16   11  The University of Chicago United States
 17   15  University of California, Los Angeles United States
 18   17  Cornell University United States
 19   21  École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne Switzerland
 20   20  Paris Sciences et Lettres – PSL Research University Paris France
 21   19  University of Washington United States
 22   23  Technical University of Munich Germany
 23   24  University of Michigan-Ann Arbor United States
 24   30  The University of Tokyo Japan
 25   22  University of Toronto Canada
 26   27  Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Singapore
 27   28  LMU Munich Germany
 28   29  University of Pennsylvania United States
 29   25  Fudan University China
 30   26  Institut Polytechnique de Paris France
 31   31  Johns Hopkins University United States
 32   =41  Université Paris-Saclay France
 33   37  University of Science and Technology of China China
 34   =34  Northwestern University United States
 35   45  Nanjing University China
 36   46  Shanghai Jiao Tong University China
 37   32  University of California, Santa Barbara United States
 38   =39  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign United States
 39   33  University of California, San Diego United States
 40   =39  University of Bonn Germany
 41   =41  UCL United Kingdom
 42   =34  Universität Heidelberg Germany
 43   38  University of Texas at Austin United States
 44   =34  University of Edinburgh United Kingdom
 45   48  Georgia Institute of Technology United States
 46   43  New York University United States
 47   44  University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
 48   54  Duke University United States
 49   =49  Sorbonne University France
 50   =62  University of Wisconsin-Madison United States
 51   =49  University of Manchester United Kingdom
 52   53  University of British Columbia Canada
 53   51  University of Colorado Boulder United States
 54   79  Kyoto University Japan
 55   56  Australian National University Australia
 =56   52  Brown University United States
 =56   60  Carnegie Mellon University United States
 58   58  The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Hong Kong
 59   75  Zhejiang University China
 60   78  Chinese University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
 61   67  Delft University of Technology Netherlands
 =62   57  University of Bristol United Kingdom
 64   85  Penn State (Main campus) United States
 =65   84  University of Arizona United States
 =65   74  City University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
 =65   55  University of Maryland, College Park United States
 68   =91  RWTH Aachen University Germany
 69   101–125  Seoul National University South Korea
 70   66  Rice University United States
 71   =62  University of California, Irvine United States
 =72   77  McGill University Canada
 =72   =68  University of Melbourne Australia
 =74   71  Humboldt University of Berlin Germany
 =74   80  Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) South Korea
 76   =91  KU Leuven Belgium
 =77   72  University of Göttingen Germany
 79   101–125  University of Minnesota United States
 80   70  The University of Queensland Australia
 81   =89  University of Southampton United Kingdom
 =82   73  University of Groningen Netherlands
 =82   101–125  University of Sydney Australia
 =82   101–125  Texas A&M University United States
 85   88  University of California, Davis United States
 =86   100  Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Germany
 =86   65  Leiden University Netherlands
 88   =98  UNSW Sydney Australia
 89   101–125  Technical University of Berlin Germany
 =90   86  University of Amsterdam Netherlands
 =90   =82  Monash University Australia
 =90   61  Université Paris Cité France
 93   =91  King’s College London United Kingdom
 94   64  Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa Italy
 95   126–150  University of Massachusetts United States
 96   =68  Wageningen University & Research Netherlands
 97   101–125  Sapienza University of Rome Italy
 98   97  University of Leeds United Kingdom
 =99   126–150  Michigan State University United States
 =99   101–125  Ohio State University (Main campus) United States
 101–125   94  University of Adelaide Australia
 101–125   126–150  Beijing Normal University China
 101–125   95  University of Bern Switzerland
 101–125   101–125  Boston University United States
 101–125   =98  University of California, Santa Cruz United States
 101–125   101–125  University of Copenhagen Denmark
 101–125   =89  Free University of Berlin Germany
 101–125   101–125  University of Geneva Switzerland
 101–125   126–150  Ghent University Belgium
 101–125   101–125  Université Grenoble Alpes France
 101–125   101–125  University of Hamburg Germany
 101–125   101–125  University of Helsinki Finland
 101–125   101–125  Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong Kong
 101–125   126–150  KTH Royal Institute of Technology Sweden
 101–125   96  Lund University Sweden
 101–125   151–175  Nankai University China
 101–125   126–150  Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) South Korea
 101–125   176–200  Purdue University West Lafayette United States
 101–125   81  University of Reading United Kingdom
 101–125   76  Stockholm University Sweden
 101–125   101–125  Stony Brook University United States
 101–125   201–250  Tohoku University Japan
 101–125   101–125  University of Vienna Austria
 101–125   101–125  University of Warwick United Kingdom
 101–125   126–150  University of Waterloo Canada
 101–125   151–175  Wuhan University China
 101–125   151–175  Yonsei University (Seoul campus) South Korea
 101–125   87  University of Zurich Switzerland
 126–150   151–175  University of Alberta Canada
 126–150   126–150  Arizona State University (Tempe) United States
 126–150   101–125  University of Birmingham United Kingdom
 126–150   126–150  Université Catholique de Louvain Belgium
 126–150   126–150  Curtin University Australia
 126–150   101–125  Durham University United Kingdom
 126–150   101–125  University of Exeter United Kingdom
 126–150   126–150  University of Glasgow United Kingdom
 126–150   151–175  University of Hawai’i at Mānoa United States
 126–150   47  King Abdulaziz University Saudi Arabia
 126–150   151–175  University of Liverpool United Kingdom
 126–150   101–125  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill United States
 126–150   126–150  University of Oslo Norway
 126–150   126–150  Radboud University Nijmegen Netherlands
 126–150   151–175  University of Sheffield United Kingdom
 126–150   126–150  Sichuan University China
 126–150   176–200  University of Southern California United States
 126–150   101–125  University of St Andrews United Kingdom
 126–150   126–150  Technical University of Denmark Denmark
 126–150   151–175  TU Dresden Germany
 126–150   126–150  Uppsala University Sweden
 126–150   151–175  Xiamen University China
 151–175   126–150  Aarhus University Denmark
 151–175   151–175  University of Antwerp Belgium
 151–175   151–175  University of California, Riverside United States
 151–175   176–200  École Normale Supérieure de Lyon France
 151–175   201–250  University of Erlangen-Nuremberg Germany
 151–175   176–200  University of Florida United States
 151–175   176–200  University of Freiburg Germany
 151–175   151–175  Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz Germany
 151–175   151–175  King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals Saudi Arabia
 151–175   151–175  Université Libre de Bruxelles Belgium
 151–175   151–175  Macquarie University Australia
 151–175   151–175  University of Münster Germany
 151–175   201–250  Nagoya University Japan
151–175   176–200  University of Nottingham United Kingdom
 151–175   151–175  University of Rochester United States
 151–175   201–250  Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) South Korea
 151–175   176–200  Swinburne University of Technology Australia
 151–175   126–150  University of Technology Sydney Australia
 151–175   251–300  Tokyo Institute of Technology Japan
 151–175   126–150  Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) South Korea
 151–175   126–150  Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Netherlands
 151–175   176–200  Washington University in St Louis United States
 151–175   151–175  The University of Western Australia Australia
 151–175   126–150  University of Wollongong Australia
 176–200   201–250  University of Barcelona Spain
 176–200   126–150  University of Basel Switzerland
 176–200   151–175  Cardiff University United Kingdom
 176–200   201–250  Chalmers University of Technology Sweden
 176–200   151–175  Colorado State University, Fort Collins United States
 176–200   201–250  Eindhoven University of Technology Netherlands
 176–200   176–200  Friedrich Schiller University Jena Germany
 176–200   201–250  Goethe University Frankfurt Germany
 176–200   401–500  Harbin Institute of Technology China
 176–200   201–250  Korea University South Korea
 176–200   201–250  Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology LUT Finland
 176–200   201–250  North Carolina State University United States
 176–200   201–250  University of Notre Dame United States
 176–200   301–400  Osaka University Japan
 176–200   151–175  University of Potsdam Germany
 176–200   151–175  Queen Mary University of London United Kingdom
 176–200   126–150  Queen’s University Belfast United Kingdom
 176–200   126–150  Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) China
 176–200   151–175  Sun Yat-sen University China
 176–200   176–200  Tel Aviv University Israel
 176–200   176–200  The University of Tennessee-Knoxville United States
 176–200   151–175  Trinity College Dublin Ireland
 176–200   101–125  University of Victoria Canada
 176–200   201–250  University of Würzburg Germany

Editor’s note: As part of our THE statement on Ukraine published on 2 March 2022, Russian universities have been given less prominence in our rankings. Russian universities that met the criteria for this ranking are not displayed in the table above.

 

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